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Updated on: 18 Jul 2020, 05:16
Originally posted by sarphant123 on 18 Jul 2020, 04:54.
Last edited by sarphant123 on 18 Jul 2020, 05:16, edited 2 times in total.
Last edited by sarphant123 on 18 Jul 2020, 05:16, edited 2 times in total.
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A
Be sure to select an answer first to save it in the Error Log before revealing the correct answer (OA)!
Difficulty:
75%
(hard)
Question Stats:
34% (01:14) correct
66%
(01:14)
wrong
based on 1077
sessions
History
Date
Time
Result
Not Attempted Yet
Explaining that one of its many difficulties had been the recently growing injury list among starting players, the minor league baseball team said it would start a month-long search for better physical trainers and physicians.
(A) its many difficulties had been the recently
(B) its many difficulties has been the recently
(C) their many difficulties were the recently
(D) their many difficulties is the recent
(E) its many difficulties had been the recent
(A) its many difficulties had been the recently
(B) its many difficulties has been the recently
(C) their many difficulties were the recently
(D) their many difficulties is the recent
(E) its many difficulties had been the recent
18 Jul 2020, 05:17
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Kaplan's Explanation -
Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:
The first word of the underlined portion is "its," a pronoun. The key to dealing with a pronoun is to make sure that there can be no doubt about what the pronoun is referring to and that the pronoun agrees with that noun in number and gender. Here, there is no doubt that "its many difficulties" refers to the team's difficulties. Additionally, it is indeed the correct pronoun to use for the collective noun team when referring to the group as a whole. So it appears there is no error with the pronoun in the original sentence. The underlined portion also contains a verb, "had been." This is in the correct past perfect tense to go with the past verb "said" later on in the sentence; the injuries occurred in the past before the team made its statement, also in the past. The sentence therefore appears fine, though the answers should be examined carefully in case anything was overlooked.
Scan and Group the Answer Choices:
The first words at the beginning of each choice reveal a 3-2 split. (A), (B), and (E) begin with “its,” while (C) and (D) begin with “their.” In addition, the choices can be grouped into a 3-2 split based on their last word. (A), (B), and (C) end with the adverb “recently," while (D) and (E) end with the adjective "recent." Finally, there is a 2-2-1 split with the verb in the middle, with (A) and (E) using "had been," (C) and (D) using "is," and (B) using "has been." With multiple splits like this, use whichever is easiest first. In this case, it is probably easiest to look at the pronoun first, then the last word. If multiple choices remain, consider the verb form.
Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:
Since the noun being referred to by the pronoun is "team," a singular noun, the correct pronoun is "its," a singular pronoun. The team may be made up of many players, but it is just one team, and the injury list belongs to the team, not the individual players. Eliminate (C) and (D) for using "their," a plural pronoun.
(D) and (E) incorrectly change the last word in the underlined portion to the adjective “recent.” According to the logic of the sentence, the team's problem is that its injury list is growing, and this growth has been happening recently, resulting in a need for better trainers and doctors. Replacing "recently" with "recent" would change the meaning of the sentence, implying that the existence of injury list itself was new. Thus, (D) is incorrect for yet another reason, and (E) must also be eliminated.
Finally, turn your attention to the verb to distinguish between (A) and (B). The present progressive verb "has been" in (B) does not put the growth of the injury list before the team's statement, expressed with the simple past "said." Thus, the original sentence, (A), is correct because it uses the correct pronoun, the correct modifier ("recently"), and the correct verb.
TAKEAWAY: When there are several possible testing points in the sentence, and thus several ways to split the choices, don't try to take them all on at once. Simply start with whichever split seems easiest to work with and go from there.
Read the Original Sentence Carefully, Looking for Errors:
The first word of the underlined portion is "its," a pronoun. The key to dealing with a pronoun is to make sure that there can be no doubt about what the pronoun is referring to and that the pronoun agrees with that noun in number and gender. Here, there is no doubt that "its many difficulties" refers to the team's difficulties. Additionally, it is indeed the correct pronoun to use for the collective noun team when referring to the group as a whole. So it appears there is no error with the pronoun in the original sentence. The underlined portion also contains a verb, "had been." This is in the correct past perfect tense to go with the past verb "said" later on in the sentence; the injuries occurred in the past before the team made its statement, also in the past. The sentence therefore appears fine, though the answers should be examined carefully in case anything was overlooked.
Scan and Group the Answer Choices:
The first words at the beginning of each choice reveal a 3-2 split. (A), (B), and (E) begin with “its,” while (C) and (D) begin with “their.” In addition, the choices can be grouped into a 3-2 split based on their last word. (A), (B), and (C) end with the adverb “recently," while (D) and (E) end with the adjective "recent." Finally, there is a 2-2-1 split with the verb in the middle, with (A) and (E) using "had been," (C) and (D) using "is," and (B) using "has been." With multiple splits like this, use whichever is easiest first. In this case, it is probably easiest to look at the pronoun first, then the last word. If multiple choices remain, consider the verb form.
Eliminate Wrong Answer Choices:
Since the noun being referred to by the pronoun is "team," a singular noun, the correct pronoun is "its," a singular pronoun. The team may be made up of many players, but it is just one team, and the injury list belongs to the team, not the individual players. Eliminate (C) and (D) for using "their," a plural pronoun.
(D) and (E) incorrectly change the last word in the underlined portion to the adjective “recent.” According to the logic of the sentence, the team's problem is that its injury list is growing, and this growth has been happening recently, resulting in a need for better trainers and doctors. Replacing "recently" with "recent" would change the meaning of the sentence, implying that the existence of injury list itself was new. Thus, (D) is incorrect for yet another reason, and (E) must also be eliminated.
Finally, turn your attention to the verb to distinguish between (A) and (B). The present progressive verb "has been" in (B) does not put the growth of the injury list before the team's statement, expressed with the simple past "said." Thus, the original sentence, (A), is correct because it uses the correct pronoun, the correct modifier ("recently"), and the correct verb.
TAKEAWAY: When there are several possible testing points in the sentence, and thus several ways to split the choices, don't try to take them all on at once. Simply start with whichever split seems easiest to work with and go from there.
General Discussion
18 Jul 2020, 04:56
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Its variant can be found here
https://gmatclub.com/forum/explaining-t ... 44234.html
https://gmatclub.com/forum/explaining-t ... 44234.html
